I watched Black Phone 2 as part of Beyond Fest at American Cinematheque. You can check out the full schedule here.

How would it be possible to make a sequel to The Black Phone? That’s the question I asked myself when they announced that Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill were working on Black Phone 2. The Grabber bit the dust and the story was all wrapped up, right? Well it turns out that evil like that doesn’t die very easily and there are plenty of ways for something as sinister as The Grabber to come back. The basic premise of Black Phone 2 is “what would happen if the Grabber called Finney from Hell?”.

All of the actors from the first film make their return here including Ethan Hawke as The Grabber, Mason Thames as Finney, Madeleine McGraw as Gwen, and Jeremy Davies as Terrence (their dad). Miguel Mora also makes his return, but as a different character, the younger brother of a previous Grabber victim, Ernesto. Joining them are Arianna Rivas (Mustang), Demián Bichir (Armando), Anna Lore (Hope), Graham Abbey (Kenneth), and Maev Beaty (Barbara). The film is set in 1982 and Finney and Gwen are now in high school, trying to get over the Hell that they both went through years earlier.

Except now, Gwen is having dreams that become all too real when she starts seeing a Christian kids camp from the past. Finney still gets ghostly phone calls at payphones, but he chooses not to help the people on the other side. It’s more of a focus on Gwen this time around, but we still get some nice development from Finney.

A Wintery “Lost” Elm Street Sequel

As it goes on, Gwen, Finney, and their friend Ernesto all decide to get jobs at the camp to try to figure out why Gwen is getting visions of it. They get stuck in a horrific snowstorm, so the only people at the camp are Gwen, Finney, Ernie, Mustang, Armando, Kenneth, and Barbara. No campers, just the kids and the adults who run the camp. Of the new characters Demián Bichir’s turn as Armando is the best. He’s got plenty of charisma, and after seeing so many adults not believe kids in situations like this in horror movies, it was refreshing here. He also provides a bit of an anchor for the group, because he knows about the camp and its previous employees and how that connects to the Grabber returning.

The movie is Gwen’s turn to shine, and Madeleine McGraw does not disappoint. She does plenty of heavy lifting when it comes to her dreams and the physical aspects of how that affects her performance. Mason Thames is also excellent, but his story doesn’t get as satisfying of a conclusion as Gwen’s does. He’s filled with anger and rage because of what he had to deal with in the first film, but his journey isn’t capped off. The ensemble here is excellent, and the best part of the film is seeing how they interact and react to the story.

Scares Are Frontloaded A Bit

Black Phone 2 is definitely a bit light on the actual scares; they’re mostly in the front half of the film (and also in the trailer), but the atmosphere that pervades throughout the film carries it along. This is a very atmosphere-heavy film. The wintery horror vibes are off the charts, and it’s tense through and through. The characters know that they’re isolated and trapped and at the whim of The Grabber and his newfound dream-entering powers. Those powers get explained a bit, but a lot is left up to the audience to interpret as to why he’s back. Those explanations lead to numerous scenes where characters simply converse in an environment for extended periods of time.

The lore of the series gets ramped up big time and The Grabber is even more menacing this time around. Ethan Hawke is once again excellent as the villain. In a world where we’ve been starved for slasher icons, The Grabber is ready to take up that mantle.

The Black Phone is one of the most excellent new horror movies in recent memory and while Black Phone 2 isn’t as great, it is still a worthy sequel. There are excellent, layered performances all around and plenty of scares and atmosphere this Halloween season.

Black Phone 2 releases in theaters on October 17th.

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